Oil Patch

The Edmonton Oilers today placed defenceman Taylor Chorney on waivers for the purpose of re-assignment to the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL. This move likely indicates that Ryan Whitney is not too far off from returning to the Oilers’ lineup. Currently Whitney is listed as day to day, but the Oilers do not play another game until Thursday night in Minnesota.

Taylor Chorney #41

Defenceman Ladislav Smid separated his shoulder in pre-season action in Minnesota 10 days ago, but was deemed ready to return to the lineup for the Oilers’ opening night which means that once Whitney is healthy, the Oilers will have all of their defenceman healthy but can still be considered lacking when it comes to depth on the blue line.

Taylor Chorney was not on the Oilers’ opening day roster, and keeping the defenceman sitting in Edmonton along with the rest of the team waiting for their next game will not do Chorney much good, especially as Chorney may not be in the lineup for the next game either. Unfortunately, by being sent down to the Barons Chorney will not be playing much sooner; the Barons’ next game is Friday night. Chorney will stand a much better chance of getting the minutes he needs to develop with the Barons, and of course may receive a call-up should there be another injury to an Oilers’ defenceman.

At this point, the Oilers have Cam Barker, Tom Gilbert, Theo Peckham, Jeff Petry, Corey Potter, Ladislav Smid, Andy Sutton and Ryan Whitney, once Whitney returns to the lineup of course. Too many of these players are unknowns at this point. Several players are newly acquired by the Oilers; Potter, Barker, and Sutton. Whitney has had injury issues, Petry and Peckham are still fairly new to the league and Smid and Gilbert have been delivering what they can in the mean time.

There are still rumours that the Oilers are looking for another defenceman and of course these rumours make sense. Just who the Oilers would be asked to give up in exchange is quite another matter. The Oilers will not use anyone they consider a part of the future of the team, but the players who may be considered expendable may not always be desirable to trading partners. As stocked as the Oilers’ cupboard may be, the chances that the Oilers will begin trading draft picks may not be high.

About Oil Patch

Lisa McRitchie is a fairly new writer, online at least, but makes up for inexperience with passion for the game of hockey and memories of Mrs. Leskiw’s English AP class; who knew they would pay off one day.

Oil Patch focuses on the Edmonton Oilers, the Edmonton Oil Kings, The Oklahoma City Barons and Team Canada Hockey with game coverage, news updates, speculation and interviews.

Although the Oilers have had a difficult past decade… or three, here at Oil Patch, the future looks bright.